Is a government supposed to be run like a business?

Acting Mayor Carole Smitherman this week told folks at the Operation New Birmingham annual meeting that city government must operate more like a successful business with sound budgeting and spending practices. OK. That's cool. We can accept that.

hat.jpgBut too often, politicians (especially when running for office, as Smitherman is) push that government-as-business mantra to extremes. The analogy falls apart pretty quickly.
A successful business makes a profit. A successful government better not. If government is making money, it better be lowering my taxes until it's only breaking even. A business exists to sell a product or service to consumers.

But government exists to provide services to taxpayers. A police department and fire department aren't going to make money; they're going to use tax dollars to provide protection to taxpayers. Public schools are services; they don't make money -- they use it up. Even public transit, which many people believe should pay for itself, is a service and, by its every nature, a money loser. Few, if any, break even. And how much money do our interstates and roads bring in? They cost billions to build.